John UM
In the memory of Netac’s game general manager Xiang Lang, the work in March this year was not abnormal, and even talked about a little “surprise” – after the news of “release number of the version” was repeated, the number was revised repeatedly. The version of the mobile game “Fifth Personality” finally got the version number. They themselves said that they were not allowed to be officially put on the shelves. The player group was the first to find out that the fifth character was approved
This result is beyond his expectation. Netease, which is called a “game maker”, does not lack the fleeting gossip in the market. Since March, rumors about limited edition, difficult or stoppage, have received various versions of multiple channels to the waves. But no one can guarantee the accuracy of the information
To some extent, the regulatory policy responsible for the release of the game to the game is still calm. “From the perspective of the broader market, the entire game industry and mobile games are still growing this year. The things that are easily infected by the outside world are called emotions, but in fact, the data that supports this industry is called data.” Xiang Lang told the “First Financial News.”
But for small and medium-sized developers and independent developers, most people may not have reacted to what happened in the first time. They may have heard various versions of the news, but it is difficult to know more specific details. And when you really feel abnormal, it is still until your work begins to change
In the fall of this year, Liu Jie, who has dubbed the game and provided the game company with a sea service, saw many of his friends close their doors and went to the hometown of “Winter Break”. Most of the people left behind are worried about where to go to the 2018 year-end award. Liu Jie felt that he became a psychomassian in the circle. At most one day, eight people asked him to vomit. The last friend’s salary was cut by a third, and finally he barely quit
The situation of a sharp turn has not caught off guard. Beginning in September, the small and medium-sized game companies that were thriving at the beginning of the year were caught in a bleak. The biggest reason, of course, is that the approval of the version number has been stagnant. The project in your hand can’t be sent out. Many games are developed halfway and are directly broken
The version approval seems to be a mysterious thing. Passing and modifying are full of uncertainty, but for the game team, before the application number process is complicated and cumbersome, there are still rules to follow. The company needs to obtain the ICP certificate from the Provincial Communications Administration and mail the materials to the China Copyright Protection Center for computer software copyright
Next, they need to pass two key departments: the cultural department and the radio and television department. Game developers need to find the Provincial Culture Department and win the network culture business license, which is the network certificate, so that they can obtain the operation license and can be filed in the Ministry of Culture. After that, they need to contact a publishing house with Internet game publishing qualifications, sign a game publishing contract, the publisher will do the initial review, and finally pass them to the SARFT for approval. After the approval, they can get the version number, which is equivalent to the passport to enter the market..
In general, the entire process lasts for more than three months, sometimes for up to a year. If you can find “yellow cattle” or “acquaintances”, you can speed up the progress
The estimated approval process for the schedule was changed after March 21 this year. The Central Government issued the “Deepening Party and State Institutional Reform Plan”. The State Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television Administration’s press and publication management duties and film management duties are assigned to the Central Propaganda Department. The subsequent game approval will also be handled by the Central Propaganda Department, the National Tourism Administration and the Culture. The Ministry merged into the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Institutional adjustments will involve the use of new official seals, which also means that from the time the notice is issued, the version review is almost stagnant
The industry is restless that no public documents mention when it will reopen
In the first few months, many people are still very optimistic. A friend of the game company LinkJoy, the founder of Blue Cat, didn’t take it seriously. I believe that the version will soon be released, and even the door can quickly open the joints. Some people who have just entered the industry soon are even more inappropriate. Their reason is that “such a big industry will not cut down and cut, the pause will soon pass, and then wait.”
But the old bird blue cat knows that this is not that simple. On the one hand, the wealthy and powerful big companies can’t do anything under the control of the “version stop”. In the second quarter earnings report of Tencent, Tencent President Liu Chiping mentioned that the SARFT gave the Tencent Green Channel – the game licensed through this channel can have a month of commercial operation testing. However, according to Bloomberg News, in October, “special treatment” was also stopped
On the other hand, news of more small companies or project teams closing down after September continues to come. When recruiting, the blue cat found that many candidates were from projects that were shut down in the middle. Obviously, their teams were cut off
Tsingtao started tracking the game rankings of the Apple App Store and found that there were Chinese games in the first half of the year. In the fall, the top of the list was almost all products of foreign teams. It is difficult to see the Chinese team again. Figure
Worse, the blue cat has experienced that the industry’s depression is far from “bottoming out”. “The game has to be adjusted and the public beta will take about 3 to 4 months, so the current version can be digested in March. But since October, there is really no version, and the middle half of the time has accumulated. Hundreds of games have not been played. I didn’t get the version number before March, and now I will find that I really can’t get it. Everyone can’t dare to set up a new project.” Green Cat told CBN
If there is no version number, the game can only be free of public beta, and can not be officially charged. It is naturally more difficult for small companies to survive. If this year’s new social security regulations are implemented strictly, the cost of employing small companies will rise linearly, and the blue cat thinks it will be at least 30% higher. “The original small company’s profit is not high, and it has increased the cost by 30%, how much is left in the profit?” he said
Liu Jie’s service company is in the downstream of the game industry, and has a fairly stable business, but it is barely enough to maintain a livelihood. As for the employees whose contracts expire, I really don’t dare to stay. “Employees want to do it, But my brother can’t afford this money,” Liu Jie said
Even if you are in a big-line factory like Netease, you can still feel the slowing market rhythm in the second half of the year. In the past, new products took up a lot of distribution work, but in recent months, they have had more time to re-think the products that have already been launched, which areas are not particularly polished, and where they can operate more finely
But for a company with a small space, the roads in front of you are all in the way: either it’s a frugal diet, you can’t stick to it before the money burns, or you can find a big factory to cooperate, at least Keep the project and the team, or get rid of it: go out to sea
Green Cat chose the last two roads. In the gaming industry that has been booming in recent years, there are still some independent studios that have made good products and accumulated considerable user resources in the segmentation field. For example, the game of Blue Cat Company belongs to the category of “nautical”. There are nearly 3 million downloads in China. Although it can’t be compared with the large-scale online games that run hundreds of millions of waters, it is very small and strong on this small track
Today, Blue Cat has chosen to work with a big company. The other party provides funds for research and development, and the version number is opened. The team makes products. The two parties are bundled together from the beginning of research and development, and the profit is divided after the game is launched. In fact, this form of cooperation was rare before this year. After all, this would involve the issue of studio development independence. The big factory is still waiting to see who is more reliable
For a long time, the game market is dominated by head products, which swept the majority of users. This also made domestic game companies like to bet on big online games. For example, the category of Tencent’s king glory is MOBA. It is a multiplayer online tactical competitive game with a maximum daily average of 200 million
But after the traffic dividend disappeared, the growth of such games also encountered bottlenecks. According to the Aurora big data, the monthly glory of the king in October this year is about 150 million, which is one-third less than the highest point of nearly 240 million
In contrast, the “Fattail” of this market began to show its value, and users of some niche games caught the attention of big companies. The absolute number of these users is completely incomparable with the popular big games, but they are sticky and have a strong desire to pay, and the continuous revenue can not be underestimated
“In terms of nautical games, it is estimated that the overall domestic players should be around 8 million, and the global level is 50 million, which is not a small amount.” Green Cat said
When you rely on the big factory, when the flowers in the industry are blooming, the small team may still be on the shelf. By this winter, they are destined to have a fierce competition. Some insiders believe that even if the version is released in the future, there may be a limit on the number. In this way, the big factory will definitely allocate a limited edition number to a more profitable project. The small studio will survive. Fight products and services
The third road to the sea looks quite beautiful. Some domestic companies have been doing well on this road. Zhixing relies on a “League of the Kings”, with a total flow of 7 billion yuan. According to the data of Zhixingtong, this mobile game paid up to 644 yuan for individual users in July 2016
There are also some heavy games in China that have been active overseas. For example, “The King’s Dispute” has been running for 4 years, and Mu’s “Mobile Legends” and the traveler’s “Legacy of Discord – Furious Wings” are all operating. More than 2 years
However, overseas markets are much more cruel than people think
Overseas is a high threshold market and has an important indicator when analyzing regional market conditions: “Local product share”. The higher the number, the more intense the competition, and the higher the barriers to entry and competition for external games. Only in Japan and South Korea, “We found that the proportion of Japanese local products remained at around 80%; in 2016, the Korean market was the most closed, more than 90%, and this year has been reduced to 73%.” Vice President and Overseas Liu Wanqin, the person in charge of the release, told CB
At present, the situation overseas is far more complicated than imagined. “In mature markets like Japan, South Korea and Europe, Chinese game companies have basically not caught up with the ‘original dividend period’. The development history and status quo of each region are different, and we cannot judge overseas development with the experience of everyone in the domestic market. Liu Wanqin said
More importantly, they face opponents not only domestic counterparts, but also mature overseas developers. This is a long-term battle for time, money, and experience. The Matthew effect is very obvious
“In the era of page games, the conversion cost of buying a user in Southeast Asia is 0.2 to 0.3 US dollars, and now it is more than 1 US dollar. The Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions can reach 5 or 6 US dollars, and the cost of buying in Europe, America, Japan and South Korea will be higher. Hao Dongmei, vice president of Game Ark, a game of Kunlun Wanwei, told CB
But big companies obviously have an advantage. “For example, a small company buys $10, and we may have a few dollars. There is no difference in experience. It is still reserved for buying space. It’s already very small.” Game Ark CEO Huang Xinxin told CB
The first station of the small company to go to the sea generally chooses the traditional area, which is Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. However, this area has now become saturated, and the products are short-lived. “The population here is more than 20 million, the game is likely to be several million, and there are more than ten new games every week. The competition is very hot.” Hao Dongmei said
Especially in recent years, with the increasing number of game companies going out to sea, the price of traffic has been pushed up more and more. This also allows game companies to do more combined marketing, including spokespersons, TV commercials, offline promotions, etc., so that the cost of distribution has increased a lot. Game Ark’s globally released game “Dragon Valley” has been ranked in the forefront of Google Play and App Store in Southeast Asia for a long time. This flagship product is backed by millions of dollars in marketing expenses, including the local head women’s team to be the spokesperson, please YouTuber and net red broadcaster KOL and so on
According to the data of the mobile application data company SensorTower, in September 2018, the domestic mobile game works ranked Top 30 in the overseas market, the head is either a big capital or a long-time old man: Netease, Tencent, IGG, FunPlus. According to App Annie’s mobile game data analysis platform, the top Chinese game rankings in the first half of 2018, the top three are still IGG, FunPlus and Zhixingtong. The list is also experienced vendors such as Yuzu and Kunlun
Because the domestic market is difficult to survive and the company is rushing to the sea, if there is no capital blessing, it is very difficult to make a profit at present
“Overseas is a big market, and competition has always been very intense. This is not the situation that was formed this year. When going out to sea, in addition to resources and capital, the regional distribution strategy is more important.” Liu Wanqin said
The situation in each regional market requires long-term exploration. “The culture and situation of each country are completely different. The European and American host culture is strong, the mobile game is weak, and generally like leisure and gambling games; Japan is relatively closed, only accepts games close to its own cultural atmosphere, plus Sony and Nintendo. The game is very developed in South Korea’s own country. The overall market in Southeast Asia still needs education, the game atmosphere is not so good, and the willingness to pay is not high.” Liu Jie told “First Financial”
Specifically, just paying, there are big differences between players at home and abroad, which even requires game companies to fundamentally change their own practices
Usually, domestic users are accustomed to spending money to upgrade equipment, but in foreign countries, “users have been educated by the host, and they are used to buying out. They will not be accepted when they come up to spend money and upgrade.” Jie said
In this regard, one of the key points of the localization of the tour network is the payment system. According to Liu Wanqin, when they released the League of Angels overseas, the first function to be changed was the VIP system. In China, recharge players will get the VIP logo of the game, and can be upgraded continuously, but the overseas VIP mark will not be explicit, each player will not see the VIP situation of other people, and the game will not use “golden”. “Unsold gold” to distinguish each other
Similarly, Game Ark’s game will also make such adjustments. For example, in Europe and the United States, players who repel the top-up list and traditional areas do not like the logo of the VIP. They will deliberately dilute this in publicity. Moreover, in the battle, they also prefer fair play, level, equipment, etc. will not have a great impact on the outcome of the battle, but more important is the way of operation. But in the Middle East, where the rich and the poor are divided, they will also join the more value-oriented gameplay, and those with better equipment and higher levels will win faster
Obviously, small companies that start from scratch are not as difficult to survive in overseas markets. For example, in order to settle, you must have an overseas bank account. The founder of a game company planning to go out to sea began to apply for overseas accounts in August of this year, but it will not be completed until January of next year. During this period, he will often fly to Singapore to go through the formalities
Liu Jie also helped some companies make the sea, he knows that the tuition fees that these companies need to pay are high. “Please ask for a translation, ask people to go to the application store team to ask for money, and ask for opportunities to meet with Google Play and Apple. It also requires money. Many small companies don’t have this strength at all.”
In addition, even if the products are launched online, the domestic marketing method will be unacceptable in foreign markets. In Liu Jie’s view, although there is a phenomenon of buying overseas, the behaviors of “money-saving” and “changing skin” that are common in China cannot survive in the overseas game market. “Foreign users are very arrogant. If you don’t agree, you will score low points, and the media and bad reviews are difficult to be publicized.”
In addition to NetEase and Tencent, Blue Cat has also worked in the well-known international game companies EA and Zynga, and it is still relatively difficult to understand the foreign market. He started a new sea project from the beginning of this year and prepared enough food, but even so, he knew that the first few products might “hang” at any time. “Tuition fees must be paid, but this is the right thing, so you have to do it.”
In the 2018, when the industry is generally chilly, the other side of the wave that feels that the version is stopped is also positive. “After all, the game is not a purely consumer product, it is more like a media channel. You can imagine how many people can be affected if you play a message in a mobile game?” He believes that the relevant departments started to control the version number this year. Since 2013, mobile games have experienced explosive growth, violence, pornography, and transitional marketing. Many non-compliant methods have been passed from page to travel to the mobile game industry. “In addition to profitability, (game producers) should also assume corresponding social responsibilities.”
For more independent game developers, the new door is also open in 2018. In May of this year, WeChat opened a small game. At that time, Chen received a message that WeChat subsidized 1 million yuan for the top 100 games. In his opinion, the design of WeChat games is still a gameplay. There is no heavy cost input such as the number of manpower, and WeChat is willing to open up means new opportunities
Everything changed again at the end of the year
On December 21st, Feng Shixin, deputy director of the Publishing Department of the Central Propaganda Department, said at the 2018 China Game Industry Annual Meeting that the first batch of trial games had been completed and the issue number was being approved. There was a cheer on the scene. On the same day, Tencent’s share price rose linearly, rising more than 4%. The game stocks of Shengtian Network and the tourist network have risen more than 5%, such as Zhongqingbao, Perfect World and Youjiu Games
But for small companies, they still dare not relax the strings in their heads. After all, I have just reviewed the first batch of games. How many games, what kind of games can get the version number, what kind of company is eligible to get the version number, and the auditing standards are unknown. Future policies will be What “time bombs”, who have no evidence in mind.It’s good news to let go of the
Version. However, for small factories with no background, no funds, no government relations, it’s far from cheering. The era of free launch, after all, is gone forever
In the end of the interview with Xiang Lang, he particularly emphasized a sentence: “I have seen “The Number One Player”, there is a saying to the player is ‘Thank you, play my game’. We must become The game is loved, people will pay for your game.”
(According to the requirements of the interviewee, Liu Jie and Chen Chen are pseudonyms)